Apprentice of Darkness
by Shadow - MCRmy
Summary: A slightly different script for the Return of the Jedi! Features Expanded Universe Character Mara Jade. FINISHED! There will be a sequel. - Tomb Raider X
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Silently, he strode down the cold, white halls of the Imperial Palace. His dark cape billowed out behind him as he moved quickly towards his master's chamber. He didn't know why his master had summoned him. It was not his duty to know why. It was his duty to obey.

From down the hall, the dark lord heard an unconcealed giggle. From behind his impenetrable mask, Darth Vader rolled his eyes. Who did the child think she was anyway?

It took a little effort to work out her hiding place. She was crouched down behind one of the large pot-plants that lined the halls. Not altering his step, he continued forward, pretending that he hadn't noticed her presence. The best thing to do was always to just humour her and let her have her own way. Otherwise, she would lose her temper.

Darth Vader was not afraid of her outbursts. But he was afraid of his master, the Emperor. The girl was one of his most prized possessions. Whoever made her angry or upset paid dearly.

As he came closer to the pot-plant, which she was behind, she leapt out in front of him. Darth Vader stopped in his tracks, staring emotionlessly at the child. She whipped out a small blaster and aimed it at him. "Stop!" she cried. "Where are you headed?"

For a moment, Darth Vader studied the little girl. She was of medium build, though tall for her age, with long, straight dark brown hair tied up in a simple braid. Freckles dotted the four-year olds cheeks and her eyes were a deep mahogany brown.

"Very amusing, Jade," Darth Vader said sarcastically. "Now I have something important to do. Get out of my way."

Jade pouted, placing her hands on her hips. "No!" she said stubbornly. "Patrol the hall with me, Darth Vader."

"I've got more important things to do. My master is expecting me." With that, he brushed past Jade, giving her a gentle push to the side using the Force.

"Stop!" She raced down the hall after him, sprinting as fast as her legs would allow. Even through Darth Vader was still only walking; she found it difficult to keep up with him.

He whirled around to face her. "Jade!" he snapped, his breath hissing loudly. "Enough of this nonsense! Where's your nursemaid?"

Darth Vader was able to strike fear in the hearts of the bravest men. Great political and military leaders trembled before him. But young Jade didn't even flinch.

She scowled. "She's not here any more."

"What," asked Darth Vader. "What are you talking about?"

"She went away." Jade didn't need to say anymore. Darth Vader knew exactly what had happened. It had happened many times before. Despite the large amounts that the Emperor was willing to pay her nursemaids, they always ended up running away, tired of the naughty child.

"Not another one," Darth Vader muttered angrily. "We only just managed to capture your last one that ran away. I think we're going to have to swap to droids." On second thoughts, maybe that wasn't such a good idea. Jade had a fascination for electronics and a bad habit of taking apart any droids that she saw.

"I'm going with you," Jade said firmly. She tucked her blaster into her belt and grabbed the corner of his cloak.

"Let go," Vader hissed. He yanked his cloak out of her small hands. She grabbed it back. He pulled it away again. Folding her arms, Jade took a deep breath in and held it.

Vader smiled to himself. This was trick that she liked to play on her mindless nursemaids. She would hold her breath until they did as she said. He wasn't going to fall for her silly games. He knew that she would let her breath out eventually.

But she didn't. She just looked into Vader's mask, determination written all over her face. Slowly, her face started to turn a pinkish colour. Vader could sense that she was slowly losing consciousness. If she didn't let her breath out soon, she would surely knock herself out.

For a moment, he started to panic. The Emperor would be outraged if anything happened to her. Reaching out with the Force, Vader opened her lungs, forcing air into her throat.

Jade was astonished. None of her nursemaids had ever been able to do anything like that. She looked up at Vader, trying to decide whether to be angry, or delighted. She grabbed hold of his leg and clung to it. He lifted his leg and started shaking it, trying to get her off him without hurting her.

But she kept her tight hold on him, laughing at his efforts to remove her. There was no time for such silly games! Ignoring the child clinging to his leg, Darth Vader continued down the hall to the Emperor's chamber. Before he went inside, he reached down and pried Jade away.

Angrily, she kicked him in the leg. Her attack didn't hurt in the least. She was like a small insect that he would gladly crush beneath his thumb. If it weren't for the Emperor...

"_Come in, my servant...and my young apprentice."_ Vader heard his master's words in his head. To his surprise, so did Jade. She was stronger in the Force than Vader had suspected.

The girl reached up, trying to press the control panel to open the door. Growing tired of watching, Vader reached forward to press the button himself.

"No," cried Jade. "I can do it."

"As you wish," he said, hiding his irritation. After what seemed like ages, finally Jade managed to reach high enough to press the door release. She darted into the room while Vader came in a more dignified manner.

"Welcome," the Emperor said in his rasping voice. He was seated on his large, throne-like chair, his face hidden by a cowl. Much to Vader's disgust, Jade leapt up onto the arm of the Emperor's throne. How could he let her do that? To his relief, the Emperor pushed Jade off the chair and told her to stand still next to him. She scowled at the old man.

"What is your bidding, my master?" asked Vader as he dropped to one knee. The Emperor told Vader of a colony that he wished for him to visit. Jade was bored from listening to their conversation. They were both very dull in her opinion. Darth Vader wouldn't patrol with her and the Emperor wouldn't let her sit on the arm of his chair.

Something new caught her interest. The two scarlet guards that stood on each side of the Emperor's throne. She approached one of them and looked curiously at his red mask. Many times she had seen these men guarding her master, but they had never talked to her.

"Hello," she said brightly. "My name is Jade. Want to play with me?" The guard stared straight ahead, not even acknowledging her presence. Hoping to have some fun, she whipped out her blaster and pretended to shoot the guard. "Zap! Zap!" she cried.

For a second, the guard looked down, hiding his astonishment. The moment he saw that it was not a charged blaster, he looked up, once again ignoring Jade. This upset her. She did not like being ignored. "Zap! Zap! Ha! You're dead!" she yelled.

"Jade! Stop that now. Go back to the nursery at once!" the Emperor snapped. It was amazing what a different effect her Master's order had on her than Vader.

Immediately, she put away the blaster and looked wide-eyed at him. "I can't," she said.

"Speak up child. Why not?" The Emperor frowned at his young apprentice. But she did not shrink back under his powerful glare.

"The nurse is gone," she said, without flinching.

"By the Sith!" cried the Emperor, his voice rising in anger. "That's the second one this month. We'll have to post a bounty on her. I'll teach her to run away." He made a visible effort to calm himself before turning back to Jade. "I'll have to get a nursemaid droid up here right away." Jade grinned. She'd never seen inside one of them before. Her master read her thoughts. "And don't even think about dismantling it. Wait here until it arrives."

"All right," Jade said grudgingly. Sulkily, she went over to a corner in the throne room and sat down, facing away from everyone. She took out her blaster and inspected it, turning it around in her hands. Someday, someone would teach her how to use it.

It was so lonely living in the Imperial Palace. Sure, she had nursemaids - when they weren't running away - and many tutors, but there were no children her own age. No one ever wanted to play with her. It seemed that everyone in the palace disliked her.

Of course, everyone she met pretended to like her. They would shower her with compliments about what a dear sweet girl she was. But Jade knew that they were lying. She didn't know how she knew, but when she concentrated really hard, she could tell what people thought of her. Most people thought that she was an uncontrolled brat who shouldn't be living in the palace.

Once Jade had been looking through the Emperor's vast library with her old nurse. She had shown her a holo-projection of some children. They seemed so happy. They were laughing, singing and playing with each other. With all her heart, Jade wished that she had someone to play with her.

Countless times, she had asked the Emperor whether she would meet any other children. He had told her that it wasn't necessary. He said that friends weren't important. He said that the only person that you could ever really count on was yourself.

Somehow, Jade knew that wasn't true. Surely the Emperor must get lonely sometimes. Even Darth Vader must sometimes wish he had someone to confide in. She couldn't imagine how anyone could spend their lives alone without friends or family.

Unfortunately, Jade had no family. She had no memory of her parents, only the Emperor. At first, she had liked to think that he was her grandfather, but he soon put a stop to such thoughts. He told her that she had no family.

Frowning, Jade pointed her blaster at an imaginary target. Maybe nursemaid droids were programmed to play with their assigned children. She'd just have to wait and find out.

And now, 15 years later...


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One  
**

Mara Jade pulled on the abbreviated black tank top she wore in disgust. She knew she had to wear it, and the length of silk material hanging from her hips to her calves in two separate pieces on back and front, to fit in as a dancer at Jabba the Hutt's palace, but that didn't mean she had to like it. She longed for her normal flight suit, her Imperial outfit, or even her normal uniform, anything to get out of her current outfit.

She watched the scoundrels and criminals dance and drink around Jabba, leaving space for the exclusive dance floor over the rancor pit, which is where she would be once the song ended. Mentally she rehearsed the routine she would perform. It was one of her better ones - it had to be, if she wanted to get onto the sail barge.

And kill Luke Skywalker.

She gritted her teeth as she remembered what the Emperor had told her about Luke Skywalker. Oh yes, she knew. Palpatine had informed her of the times, during the years between the battle of Yavin and the battle of Hoth, when Skywalker had become a commander he had used his piloting skills to murder innocent smugglers, and had been spotted once decimating a crowd of helpless ordinary civilians with his lightsaber. Just the thought of the things he had done made her want to do something drastic.

Jade smiled cruelly. She would get to do something drastic – and "very" enjoyable - if she got on to the sail barge.

The song ended and there was a smattering of clapping. She heard Jabba bellow for a dancer, like she knew he would. She made a few last minute adjustments to her hair, which was twined around the top of her head in a braid, then emerged from the doorway, running gracefully to assume her starting position.

As the music began, she moved her hips, twirled her hands above her head and started to dance. She kicked high, threw her head back and arched her back. She threw in a few leaps, jumps and flips for good measure, knowing she impressed everyone. Even Jabba. She could feel it in his sense.

(_Fantastic! This woman dances like the wind and the water of Nal Hutta,)_ Jabba said in his own language. "Thank you, Your Magnificence," Jade purred, sucking up big time. She knew Jabba liked to be flattered. So did she, occasionally, but maybe being compared to the smog-filled wind and slimy water of Nal Hutta was not what she had in mind...

He nodded his approval and waved her away. She bowed again and retreated into the shadows. He clapped his hands together and the band started playing a jazzy tune as Jade disappeared down a corridor.

Jade was jerked awake by the sound of talking, albeit softly, in the hallway leading from the entrance to the throne room of the palace. She had her senses tuned to every little thing around her. She could hear the slow rise and fall of Jabba's breathing across the room. Salacious Crumb was asleep, thank the stars, and so was everyone else, even the guards of the throne room.

She watched from under the hood of her dark cloak as Jabba's lieutenant, Bib Fortuna hurried from his place on Jabba's left, out into the hall. The golden droid, C-3PO was plugged into the wall power outlet, apparently getting a refill. She turned her head back to where Jabba was sleeping and suddenly saw the woman who sat asleep at Jabba's side. Jade recognized her immediately. Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, a well-known Rebel leader. She wore not much more than Jade had when she had danced, and was chained to Jabba's throne.  
  
Organa had also woken up, at the same time Jade did. She was looking up towards the entrance. Jade kept watching her as Organa's eyes followed a figure that was coming down the steps. Her eyes seemed to be full of excitement and hope. When the Emperor's Hand looked up, she saw why.

In front of Jabba's throne, figure shrouded in a cloak and hood, hands folded over his stomach, stood Luke Skywalker. Jade's hatred boiled to the surface. Seeing him reminded her of the things the Emperor had told her Skywalker had done. Organa looked around in surprise, somehow sensing the hate pouring out of her. In order not to reveal her true identity as the Emperor's Hand and seem as normal as possible, Jade stayed in the shadows and watched intently.

_(I told you not to admit him!)_ Jabba raged to Bib Fortuna, who was now at his side.

"I must be allowed to speak," Skywalker said with a cool confidence. Jade frowned.

Fortuna echoed him, only to receive a stern reprimand from his master. _"You weak-minded fool! He is using an old Jedi mind trick."_

Skywalker removed his hood."You will bring Captain Solo and the Wookiee to me."

Jade watched him and sneered. He thought he was so powerful and smart.

Looking around, she caught sight of the bounty hunter, Boba Fett that had brought Solo to Jabba. _"What is he snooping around here for,"_ she thought to herself.

Turning her attention back to Skywalker, she saw that he was grabbing a blaster from one of the guards' holsters and aiming at Jabba. Then the floor dropped out from under him, Jedi cloak flying up as he fell, a Gamorrean guard following behind him.

Alarmed, she ran over to where everyone had gathered and started watching what was happening in the pit below.

Skywalker was fighting the rancor in the pit. Apparently the rancor had already killed the Gamorrean guard, because he was nowhere to be seen.

After a while, Skywalker defeated the rancor and killed it.

Jabba shouted in anger and turned to his guards. _"Bring me Solo and the Wookiee. They will all pay for this outrage."_

Jade walked back to her vantage point and leaned against the wall. She watched as Solo and Chewbacca were brought up from their cell, and Skywalker was pushed up the stairway to Jabba's throne.

"Han!" Skywalker called to his friend.

"Luke!" Solo replied. "Together again, huh?"

"Wouldn't miss it."

"How we doing'?"

"Same as always."

"That bad, huh? Where's Leia?"

"I'm here!" Organa called, trying to squirm away from Jabba's slimy hands.

Jade listened as Jabba announced their sentence - to be thrown into the Great Pit of Carkoon. _"Oh well, its not so bad. The Emperor could have thought of worse things."_

She watched as they were led off, smirking when Skywalker threw a last retort at Jabba.

It hadn't been easy, but she'd done it. Proudly, Jade stood by the railing on Jabba's sail barge. It had taken a lot to convince him to let her go with him, but eventually he had consented. The hot Tatooine wind blew the loose strands of her dark brown hair around as she carefully watched her prey. Luke Skywalker.

He was standing beside a plank that was situated above the mouth of the Sarlaac. The gruesome creature shuddered as if it knew it was about to be well fed.

Beside Skywalker stood his friends: Solo, the smuggler and Chewbacca, his Wookiee partner. They all had their hands cuffed and their faces were grim. Yet Skywalker had an air of smugness about him, as if he knew something that the others didn't.

Jade sneered at him. He would die soon. Maybe she would kill the others too. They were a threat to the Empire. Not a big threat, but still a threat. Jade didn't believe that the Sarlaac would be the cause of their death. No, Skywalker was sure to have something up his sleeve.

Jabba had just asked them if they would beg for mercy. Solo had declined on his offer rather rudely. Princess Leia Organa sat on Jabba's dais, watching anxiously as her friends approached their death.

Skywalker nodded at one of the guards, who returned the nod. Jade rolled her eyes. The boy had no idea how to be subtle. She recognised the guard as Lando Calrissian. He was not really a guard, but had sneaked into the Palace under that disguise. Jade had seen through it instantly.

_"Put him in,"_ growled Jabba in Huttese. One of the guards removed Skywalker's restraints and prodded him along the gangplank. Maybe Jade wouldn't have to kill him after all. Maybe he would die in the Sarlaac. It seemed unlikely that he would escape.

Smiling, Skywalker glanced up at the sail barge and stepped off the edge of the platform. Jade blinked in surprise. She never imagined that he'd give up so quickly.

But instead of falling into the Sarlaac, Skywalker twisted around and grabbed hold of the edge of the board. He sprung back up onto the platform, reaching out into midair for something.

Jade looked over in the direction that Skywalker had looked at before he jumped. There was a small astromech droid, a R2 unit. From a compartment inside him, a cylindrical object popped out and flew through the air towards Skywalker.

A lightsaber.

Jade's lip twisted. So this was what Skywalker was going to do. She pulled the hood of her cloak over her head. Very clever indeed. Unfortunately for him, he hadn't counted on another Force user to be present. Effortlessly, Jade lifted up her hand and reached out with the Force.

The lightsaber curved through the air and went towards Jade. Skywalker's mouth dropped open as he watched her waiting to collect the weapon. Desperately he tried to regain control of it, but his mind was too clouded. _"Who was this stranger?"_

"Hey," cried someone behind her. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" A rough hand grabbed her by the arm.

Her attention snapped. To Skywalker's relief, the lightsaber came back towards him.

"What do you think you're doing!" hissed Jade, looking back at Skywalker. He now had the weapon and was setting his friends free. Jabba was roaring orders. Everything was in chaos.

She glanced at the guard. He was tall with an unkempt beard and he wore the basic uniform of one of Jabba's guards.

"Let go of me," she growled. "I have business to attend to."

"And so do I," said the guard. "Come back inside. I'll bet you're trying to escape in all the confusion. Jabba won't be happy. Come with me and I'll forget that I saw you out here." He pulled a blaster from his holster.

"Sure, you will," muttered Jade under her breath. With a single, graceful movement, she swung her leg and kicked the gun out of his hand. At the same time, she punched with all her might, sending him sprawling.

Now to get back to the battle. She turned back to the railing just to find that neither Skywalker nor his friends were in sight. Confused, she looked down a pipe to see what Jabba was doing about the situation. Jade gasped.

He was dead.

Princess Leia Organa was gone.

Jade looked around. They had to be somewhere! Then she spotted the Princess. She was aiming the big gun on the sail barge at the deck. Skywalker appeared beside her. Together, they swung to safety.

For a moment, Jade was stunned. Skywalker was going to get away. Although she was shocked, she pulled herself together.

The cannon fired at the deck, causing a huge chain reaction of explosions. Jade, who was at the end furthest from the cannon, had just enough time to leap off the end of the barge before it all went up in flames.

With a thud, she landed on her feet in the sands. Wearing her dark cloak, the fierce winds and stinging sands whipped against her cloak and blew it around. She was alone in the desert.

Beside her, she noticed two golden legs sticking out of the sand. A droid? Near the legs, a periscope popped up. She nearly fell back in surprise. Maybe these droids could help her get back to civilization. Then she could return to her master and offer her deepest apologies.

The noise of repulsor lifts came through the howling winds. Jade looked up and saw an approaching skiff. Things were definitely looking up. Perhaps whoever was in the skiff would consider giving Jade a ride. If they wouldn't, she could always use the Force on their minds.

"Don't forget the droids," came a familiar voice. A voice that Jade hated with all her being.

Skywalker.

As the skiff came nearer, Jade looked at its occupants. Sure enough, it was Skywalker, Organa, Chewbacca, Calrissian and Solo. A large magnet dropped of the side and connected onto the droids.

Jade wondered what to do. They hadn't spotted her yet. All she wanted to do was to get to Skywalker so that she could kill him.

"Hey!" cried Calrissian. "Look, there's someone out there. Turn the skiff around." As soon as the droids were on board, the small craft came back towards Jade.

She decided to play along and let them rescue her. Then, after she gained their trust, she could kill him. When the skiff stopped beside her, she stood up. To her surprise, Skywalker was the one who reached down and offered a hand.

"Would you like some help?" he asked. Jade's fiery brown eyes narrowed from under her cloak. How she hated him! He suddenly stepped back and looked her over. "Wait a minute," he said slowly as he recognised her. "You're the one who nearly got the lightsaber off me on the barge!"

Before he could retract his hand, she grabbed it and pulled hard, yanking Skywalker onto the sand with her. She swung a punch, sending him stumbling backwards.

Her danger sense flared as Chewbacca jumped from the skiff and landed behind her. She swung around, giving him a roundhouse kick in the head. To her horror, he barely flinched. The blow would have killed an ordinary man. She had no idea that Wookiees were so tough.

Snarling angrily, the furry creature reached out to grab her by the neck and lift her above the sand. She lifted her hand and gave him a push with the Force. He fell into the sand. Leia Organa, Lando Calrissian and Han Solo jumped to the ground beside Chewbacca.

Jade looked over to where Skywalker slowly getting up from where he had fallen. He looked up as her shadow loomed over him. "Fool," she sneered, walking up to him, ready to deliver a killing blow.

Han suddenly looked up and saw what was happening. "Stop right there or I'll shoot you in the back."

Jade ignored him and kept walking towards Skywalker.

Han lifted up his blaster and fired a shot in her direction.

Her danger sense warning her, Jade suddenly pulled out her lightsaber that was hidden under her cloak with a flash and deflected the shot. She then shut off her lightsaber and used the Force to wrench the blaster from Han's grip. It came flying back towards her hand. Jade caught it and with the Force, crushed the blaster in her hand. She turned around and walked towards Luke again.

Luke got up and grabbed his lightsaber from off the skiff. The green blade glowed as he ignited the lightsaber.

"Don't fire," Luke shouted at Chewie who was aiming his bowcaster. "I'll deal with this person."

Luke turned his attention to Jade. "I don't want to hurt you with this, but believe me I can."

Jade sneered. "You wouldn't be able to even flick a fly off me, Skywalker."

Luke paused for a minute in astonishment. _"How could this stranger know my name?"_ But he quickly shrugged off his speculations and looked back towards Jade. "If you continue to harm me and my friends, you will have to suffer the consequences," he said as held his lightsaber in front of him.

Jade feigned confusion. "Me? Suffer consequences?" Her voice turned ice-cold. "Nay, Skywalker, it is you who will be suffering the consequences today." She whipped her lightsaber out and ignited it. The purple blade flashed and momentarily blinded Skywalker, but he quickly recovered.

He charged at her; lightsaber held back for a cutting sweep. She blocked it easily as it came at her and swung a lethal blow at him. He only just managed to block it as it came down at him.

Their lightsabers clashed in the Tatooine sunlight as the two people swung and lunged at each other and parried each other's blows. This continued on for a while until Luke started to tire. It was obvious that this stranger was the better fighter and his arms began to protest under the onslaught.

Han, Leia, Lando and Chewie watched in horror and astonishment as Luke fought this mysterious stranger who was obviously very skilled with a lightsaber. As they watched, Jade suddenly took a lethal slash at him. It swung perilously close to his torso and he only just was able to jump out of the way.

Finally, Leia could take it no longer. "Be careful, Luke," she cried.

Luke momentarily stopped to look up and reassure Leia that he would be fine.

But his reassuring glance lingered too long.

As Luke turned away, Jade swung her lightsaber and stabbed him in the leg.

Luke gasped in agony as the lightsaber hit him. He fell to the ground, clutching his upper leg. His lightsaber flew a couple of metres away.

Jade slowly walked up to him, her lightsaber glowing by her side. She lifted her hand and gave him a slight push with the Force. He landed in the sand a couple metres from the skiff.

Jade walked up to him and lifted her lightsaber in front of her. Luke reached out with the Force to grab his lightsaber. As soon as it reached his hand, he attempted to ignite it. It refused to light up. Confused, he looked at it. His eyes widened in shock. The end was sliced off.

He looked up at Jade. The sunlight had reflected off the side of the skiff and shone at the top of her head. He looked into her hood. Two dark brown eyes, glinting like flames of fire and full of hate, stared back at him.

Jade lifted her lightsaber up above her head for the final blow. Suddenly her danger sense flared as several blaster bolts came at her. She swung her lightsaber and deflected the blots as more came flying at her.

As she deflected the blots, Leia, with the help of Chewie, carefully lifted Luke, who had by now collapsed from the pain off the sand and on to the skiff. Leia then ran and prepared to start up the skiff.

Jade saw what was happening and sent a blast of Force lightning from her hand at the skiff. It hit Leia in the back. She screamed and fell to the floor, unconscious. Han stopped firing and ran over to Leia. He held her in his strong arms as he checked her vital signs.

Han got up and looked at Luke and Leia lying on the floor. He picked up his blaster and set it on kill. He aimed it at Jade and fired.

Jade saw it coming and reacted quickly. She dropped her lightsaber and focused her mind completely on the Force. Suddenly, a Force shield completely surrounded her. The blaster bolt hit the shield. To the horror and dismay of Han Solo, the shield dissolved the shot. He turned to Lando. "We don't have time for this. I'll tell Chewie to start up the skiff and we'll fire a few more shots just to keep her occupied."

He turned and yelled at Chewie to start up the skiff. As they flew off, Han and Lando fired a few more shots at Jade.

Jade used her lightsaber to deflect the bolts back at the skiff. But it was too late. They were too far away.

"Damm," cried Jade as she angrily kicked the sand in frustration. For the first time in her life, she had failed her master. It was such an easy assignment, but she had failed the objective. Her master would not be pleased. Sighing, she pulled out a control pad and pressed a few buttons.

Soon the sound of a ship could be heard overhead, though nothing could be seen. A cloud of dust swirled a couple hundred metres away. When it had settled, Jade pressed two buttons. The sky started to wave around and a ship appeared. Jade walked up the gangplank and into the ship.

As she entered, she pressed a switch and the gangplank retracted as the door shut. She entered the cockpit and pressed a button on the side of the wall. The cloaking device re-engaged and the ship disappeared. Jade removed her cloak and set it on the arm of her chair.

That finished, she planned her next move. She had to report back to her master. She remembered that he was not on Coruscant anymore. He had gone to oversee a massive project above the forest moon of Endor.

It would take a few days to reach her destination. Jade keyed in the co-ordinates and let the auto-pilot do the job. After all, she felt that she did deserve a break.


	3. Chapter Two

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**Tal Celes: Thanks for reviewing. Here's the next chapter. I will try and update faster.**

**Ultimate-Vader-Fan: I know Mara Jade had red hair and green eyes; but I'm not overly fond of red hair and green eyes. (No offence to anyone with that colour hair and eyes) So I decided to change it a bit. Hope you don't mind. **

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* * *

**Chapter Two**

Darth Vader watched the majestic shuttle approach, then land gracefully on the deck of the Death Star's largest shuttle bay. The troops surrounding him snapped to attention as the ramp lowered and eight crimson-robed Imperial guards walked out and to the sides of it. Vader and Commander Jerjerrod both went down on one knee, heads bowed.

The Emperor, ruler of the Galactic Empire, walked slowly down the ramp towards them. "Rise, my friend," he said to Vader, and even his voice sounded utterly evil.

They began walking along the ranks of Stormtroopers, technicians, controllers and just about every other person who worked on the Death Star.

"The Death Star will be completed on schedule," Vader told his master in his deep, menacing, and only slightly less evil voice.

"You have done well, Lord Vader. And now, I sense you wish to continue your search for young Skywalker."

Vader paused before answering. "Yes, my master."

"Patience, my friend. In time, he will seek you out. And when he does, you must bring him before me. He has grown strong. Only together can we turn him to the dark side of the Force."

"Yes, my master."

The evil man paused. "Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen."

The sound of his laughter filled the bay and every trooper's mind with dread.

* * *

"That face you make. Look I so old to young eyes?"

Luke quickly wiped the look of worry and pity off his face and replied, "No! Of course not."

Master Yoda smiled ruefully. "I do. Yes, I do. Sick have I become. Hm. Old and weak. When nine hundred years old you reach, look as good you will not, hm? Hehehehehe," the Jedi Master said in good humour.

Luke grinned and looked down. No, he probably would not look so good, with the kind of life he led. He assisted the ancient Jedi Master to his bed, where Yoda lay down and continued speaking.

"Soon I will rest. Yes, forever sleep. Earned it I have."

"Master Yoda, you can't die!" Luke exclaimed. He didn't think he could handle losing another great friend.

"Strong am I with the Force, but not that strong," Yoda contradicted him gently. "Twilight is upon me, and so night must fall. That is the way of things, the way of the Force."

Luke was dismayed. "But I need your help. I've come back to complete the training."

Yoda smiled. "No more training do you require. Already know you that what you need."

"Then I am a Jedi."

"No!" Yoda took a breath. "Not yet. One thing remains. Vader. You must confront Vader. Then, only then, a Jedi will you be. And confront him you will."

Now was the time to ask the question that had been haunting him since Bespin. "Master Yoda. Is... Darth Vader my father?"

There was a pause; then Yoda turned to face the wall. "A rest I need. Yes, rest."

"Yoda, I must know."

Another pause, then a sigh. "Your father he is."

Luke sat back. At last, he knew. The second most evil man in the galaxy, the man who stood by and watched as Grand Moff Tarkin destroyed Princess Leia's home planet, Alderaan, tried to shoot down Luke's X-Wing in the first Death Star's trench, froze his best friend, Han Solo, in carbonite, as an "experiment", and cut Luke's hand off at Cloud City, was his father.

"Unexpected this is and unfortunate," the little Jedi Master said softly.

"Unfortunate that I know the truth?" Luke demanded, anger flaring up.

"No! Unfortunate that you rushed to face him. That incomplete was your training! That not ready for the burden were you," Yoda corrected.

"I'm sorry," his pupil replied sincerely, regretting his temper loss.

Yoda relaxed and turned to Luke. "The Force runs strong in your family."

Luke nodded in understanding. But Yoda wasn't finished.

"Luke; when gone am I, the last of the Jedi will you be."

Luke was stunned. He would be all alone. He turned back to Yoda and waited to see if he would say anything else.

After a while, Yoda spoke again, his voice becoming more and more difficult to use by the second. "Do not... underestimate... the power... of the Emperor... or suffer your father's fate... you will."

"Luke..."

Luke leaned closer to hear what he was saying.

Luke... there is... another... Sky... walker..."

Yoda's voice trailed off and his head fell to the side. Luke stared at his Master sadly, devastated that he was gone. The sadness welled up inside him, as he remembered the lively 900-year-old Jedi Master he had first met when coming to Dagobah.

Then he watched the deceased Jedi Master's body disappear, just like Ben's had on the first Death Star.

Another great friend, mentor and father figure was gone.

* * *

"I can't do it, R2. I can't go on alone," Luke said to his droid in despair, one hand resting on his X-Wing's hull.

"Yoda will always be with you."

"Obi-Wan!" Luke turned to see the figure of Obi-Wan Kenobi, his deceased friend and first teacher, shrouded in blue transparency. "Why didn't you tell me? You told me Vader betrayed and murdered my father!" Luke walked over to his mentor.

"Your father was seduced by the dark side of the Force. He ceased to be Anakin Skywalker and became Darth Vader. When that happened, the good man who was your father was destroyed. So what I told you was true. From a certain point of view."

"A certain point of view?"

"Luke, you're going to find that most of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view. Anakin was a good friend." Ben sat down, slow with age. It seemed that being one with the Force had not helped Ben's arthritis any. Luke sat down next to the apparition. "When I first knew him, Anakin was  
already a great pilot, but I was amazed at how strongly the Force was with him. I took it upon myself to train him as a Jedi. I thought that I could instruct him just as well as Yoda. I was wrong," the old Jedi admitted.

"There is still good in him," Luke said with conviction.

Almost invisibly, Ben shook his head in sorrow. "He's more machine now than man, twisted and evil."

"I can't do it, Ben," Luke insisted.

"You cannot escape your destiny. You must face Darth Vader again."

"I can't kill my own father!"

"Then the Emperor has already won. You were our only hope," Obi-Wan said sadly.

Abruptly, a small, perhaps trivial thought flitted its way into Luke's mind. "Yoda spoke of another," he pointed out.

"The other he spoke of is your twin sister," Ben revealed.

Luke frowned. "But I have no sister."

"Mm. To protect you both from the Emperor, you were hidden from your father when you were born. The Emperor knew as I did, if Anakin were to have any offspring, they would be a threat to him. That is the reason why your sister remains safely anonymous," Ben said with finality.

"Leia!" Luke breathed, the instant Obi-Wan had finished speaking. "Leia is my sister!" It was so obvious, he should have known. They were so close to each other emotionally. He knew he loved Leia, but up until now he had felt a little awkward for some reason. Now he knew why he had instinctively loved her from the moment he first saw her.

"Your insight serves you well. Bury your feelings deep down, Luke. They do you credit, but they could be made to serve the Emperor," Ben warned.

Luke nodded in understanding as his former teacher began to fade away. "Thank you for visiting, Ben. I needed to talk to someone I trust," he said.

"It was a pleasure," Ben replied. "Goodbye, Luke. May the Force be with you."

* * *

A few days later, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca and Princess Leia Organa were in a shuttle. A team of commandos was with them.

They had just had been through Imperial checkpoint and had been allowed passage to the moon. Luckily, the Imperials didn't know what their real purpose was. To bring down the shields of a new super-weapon: the second Death Star.

Luke was feeling very miserable. He knew that Vader could sense his presence. As long as he was there, the mission was in danger. But that wasn't his only problem. The mysterious stranger who had tried to kill him on Tatooine was constantly on his mind.

Leia somehow knew what he was thinking. That was a strange occurrence that had been happening a lot lately. "Luke, stop thinking about it. It'll only make you tense."

"No," Luke said. I can sense the presence. It's almost like the stranger's near."

"That's impossible," Leia argued. "The stranger's probably still on Tatooine."

"You don't know that."

"Will you two knock it off?" Han complained. "You're worrying about a person who is billions of miles away."

"Maybe," muttered Luke darkly.

"It doesn't matter," Han said. "We have a mission to complete."

"Right," agreed Leia. Chewie growled something. The four of them looked out the view screen at the approaching moon.

* * *

A couple of hours before Solo and his team landed on Endor; the huge battle station loomed in front of Jade. It seemed even bigger than the first one that was built. It brought back so many memories. Her thoughts were interrupted by her bleeping comlink. She slapped it on with her hand.

"What's your clearance code?" asked a bored sounding voice. Jade recited the number on the screen in front of her.

She landed the shuttle in one of the docking bays. Hopefully, word had gotten to her master that she had arrived. True, he would be angry that she had failed to kill Skywalker. But he would probably have a greeting party for her. She grabbed her cloak, put it on and walked out.

But when she walked down the ramp, her master was not waiting for her.

Vader was.

Jade took a deep breath. She never liked him much, and the feeling was mutual. She put up a mental barrier. If she wasn't careful, Vader would be able to read her every thought and emotion.

"Welcome back, Emperor's Hand," he said through his mask. As usual, he was completely unreadable.

"Where is the Emperor?" she asked, not wanting to be stuck making small talk with the Dark Lord.

"He is waiting for you in the throne room," Vader replied.

Jade curtly and briefly nodded her head in thanks; then turned and walked down a corridor, two Stormtroopers following as entourage. Vader watched her as she strode off. He was glad he wasn't required to escort her to his master. He knew that she had been assigned to kill his son and he didn't want that to happen.

The comlink clipped to his belt started to bleep. Vader switched it on. "Yes," he hissed. "This had better be very important."

"I believe it is, my lord," a voice replied. "We have picked up a prisoner on the forest moon who wishes to speak to you. His name is Luke Skywalker."

"I am on my way," replied Vader. At last, he would be reunited with his son.

Jade walked through the many corridors of the Death Star, the two Stormtroopers following a short distance behind. She walked into one of the many command centres that dotted the ship. The officer in charge nodded his respect as she passed. She climbed up a flight of stairs that led to the Emperor's throne room.

When she reached the top of the stairs, she turned to the left and walked up three steps to the turbo lift that led to her master's throne room. The Stormtroopers standing guard stood at attention as she passed them and entered the turbo lift.

Jade shut the doors behind her and stood facing them as the turbo lift started to go upwards. As she stood there, she wondered how the Emperor would react to her failing the mission. She hoped he wouldn't take it badly.

The turbo lift stopped and the door slid open. Jade took a deep breath; then glided silently into the room. She walked up the long flight of stairs that led to her master's throne.

The Emperor glared at her with his yellow reptilian eyes. His shrivelled form was hidden beneath a long cloak. He arms lent on the side of his throne.

"Leave us," the Emperor commanded. Silently, the Imperial guards obeyed.

"My master." She dropped to one knee, bowing her head in reverence.

"Come here, my Hand," he commanded. She got up and walked the few steps to her master's throne.

"I apologize, my Master..." she began.

"That is not important right now. It was a mistake that can be forgiven, this time," the Emperor replied briskly. "Right now there are more important matters to attend to."

Jade was shocked for a moment. She though her master would be extremely upset that she had failed. But he had not even brought the subject up. Clearing her mind of questions, she turned her attention back to her master.

"I have heard disturbing reports from Byss. There are a couple problems that need taking care of." He pointed his finger at Jade. "See to it."

"Yes, my master," Jade replied. She turned and walked down the stairs to the turbo lift. She entered and flicked the comm panel. The doors slid shut and the turbo lift started to descent. As she stood in the turbo lift, she suddenly heard her master's voice in her head._ "And do not worry, my Hand. I will take care of Skywalker."_

* * *

Hoped you liked it. Please review. -- Tomb Raider X


	4. Chapter Three

Thanks for the reviews. Here's the next chapter. - Tomb Raider X

**

* * *

**

Chapter Three

Luke followed behind Han Solo as the command crew of the shuttle "Tydirium" crept through the forest. They wore full camouflage gear, with hardhats and everything, and Luke had the pocket containing his blaster unbuttoned.

As he watched ahead, he saw Han Solo give the hand signal to duck.

He crept forward stealthily, not moving a single leaf or branch. He was just in time to hear Leia say, "Should we try and go around?"

Crouching down next to Leia, he saw two stormtroopers in a small clearing, near three parked speeder bikes.

Luke shook his head at Leia's question. "It'll take time."

"This whole party'll be for nothing if they see us," Han agreed.

Han nodded as Chewie growled in agreement. "Chewie and I'll take care of this. You stay here," Han said, drawing his blaster.

"Quietly," Luke instructed them. "There might be more of them out there."

Han stopped what he was doing and looked at them with a lopsided grin on his face. "Hey - it's me!" he said.

Luke sighed and shook his head as Leia grinned. They watched as Han and Chewie crept around behind them and began creeping up on the two Stormtroopers. Han had his blaster out and ready, and was just about to fire it when he stepped on a twig. He glanced down in surprise, giving the Stormtrooper an opportunity to punch him, which he did. Han fired his blaster just a second too late.

"Go for help! Go!" the Stormtrooper yelled at his partner.

"Great!" Luke exclaimed angrily. "Come on!" He and Leia rushed down from their vantage point and into the clearing, where Han was having a rousing hand-to-hand fight.

Chewie shot down the escaping Stormtrooper and Luke was about to go and help Han when Leia yelled, "Over there, two more of them!" She ran for one of two remaining speeder bikes and leaped on.

"I see them, wait - Leia!" Luke yelled. He threw his hands up in exasperation and rushed after her, jumping on the back of Leia's speeder bike just as she went to speed off after the two Stormtroopers.

"Jam their comlinks - centre switch," he ordered.

She and Luke ducked under a fallen tree, which was making an arch in the ground, then nearly turned sideways as they careened around a trunk, then another one, making an O shape.

"Behind us!" Leia called as two laser bolts narrowly missed their speeder bike.

"Stay on that one, I'll take these two," Luke shouted in return.

As he neared an overhanging branch of just the right size, texture and shape, Luke jumped straight up and grabbed hold of it, using his momentum to carry him forward and over it. He landed with his hips resting on the branch, arms supporting his weight. When the last speeder bike got just the right distance away, he cast off and swung around the branch at arms length, letting go and throwing a back somersault at the arc of his swing. He had calculated perfectly - he landed behind the Stormtrooper on the speeder bike. Without giving the Stormtrooper the time to react to his presence, he threw him off and grabbed the controls himself.

* * *

The Ewok went up to Leia's prone form and poked her in the back with a spear. He backed off, then, when Leia didn't move, went up to her and poked her again, this time eliciting a startled gasp from Leia, who sat straight up and exclaimed, "Cut it out!" 

The Ewok was making purring sounds, but he sounded much more frightened and defensive than happy. Leia sighed and got up, deliberately making no threatening gestures, and made her way over to a deadfall, where she sat down, groaning.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Leia reassured the Ewok. He didn't look like he understood her words, but he got the drift. He didn't look too convinced, however. Leia pulled out a ration bar and took a bite, surveying her surroundings. "Well... looks like I'm stuck here," Leia said resignedly. "Trouble is I don't know where here is." She looked at the Ewok thoughtfully. "Maybe you can help me. Come on, sit down," she offered, patting the log next to her.

The Ewok growled low in his throat, holding his spear out protectively. "I promise I won't hurt you. Now come here!" Leia insisted.

"All right. Want something to eat?" Leia asked, offering a piece of her ration bar to the Ewok. Her tone of voice was much gentler now.

He did, hesitating once more then climbing up on the log a short distance away. He waddled toward Leia and grabbed the bar out of her outstretched hand, nibbling on it while staying out of arm's reach. "That's right," the princess encouraged him.

"Come on. Hmm?" Leia spoke to the Ewok in a cutesy voice now, and it seemed to be working, because he walked up to her and plonked down beside her, talking to himself while eating his ration bar.

Leia groaned with relief as she took her camouflage hardhat off. The Ewok squealed and jumped up, aiming its spear at the hat. "Look - it's a hat," Leia explained. "It's not gonna hurt you, look." She offered the hat to the Ewok, who took it out of her hands and examined it. "You're a jittery little thing, aren't you?"

Suddenly, the Ewok dropped the hat on the ground and lifted his spear, scanning the horizon. He sniffed and his ears perked up, as if trying to see something.

"What is it?" Leia asked, following the Ewok's eyes.

Leia hadn't ducked when the blaster bolt exploded out of the trees and hit the log next to her. She gasped and rolled over the log backwards. Leia had her blaster out and ready now, and was scanning the tree line when the second shot burst out of the trees. They both ducked.

"Freeze!" came the muffled, but no less intimidating, voice of the Stormtrooper who was now holding a blaster on Leia, who gasped in surprise. "Come on, get up." He grabbed Leia's blaster from her; then spoke to his partner, who climbed up on his speeder bike.

While his attention was elsewhere, Leia heard an Ewok battle cry and a baffled Stormtrooper cry, "What the--?" as he bent over to see.

Seeing her chance, Leia grabbed a log and bashed the Stormtrooper over the head and knocked him out. She then grabbed his blaster and fired at the speeder bike zooming off. She hit it on the fuel tank and it exploded.

She could no longer sense Luke or the others, so it would take her days - if she remembered where to go. She had a pretty good memory, but it wouldn't do her much good in a forest like this. "Okay. I'll follow you." She headed off, through the clearing, following the bear-like Ewok.

* * *

Emperor Palpatine stared out into space, occasionally watching the moon of Endor, but more often studying the stars. _"His"_ stars. He more or less owned them - no one else would dare to place a claim on them when he did. And he could do what he liked with them. They were nothing more than building blocks, really - blocks to build his Empire on. Briefly he wondered which one he would test his new Death Star on first.

He chuckled. Ah, no, no, no...that was an honour reserved for the Rebel command ships. And speaking of his plans... He sensed Darth Vader was here to add something new to them. What, Palpatine didn't know, but he would find out soon enough. He let his servant wait for a while. Let him worry.

"I told you to remain on the command ship," Emperor Palpatine chastised Vader.

The Dark Lord practically ignored his master's statement. He would have to be taught who was the master around here sooner or later. He was getting a bit too big for his boots. "A small Rebel force has penetrated the shield and landed on Endor," Vader announced.

As if Palpatine didn't know. "Yes, I know."

"My son is with them." Vader dropped his bombshell.

"Are you sure?" The tone of his voice implied that if Vader wasn't sure, he would be punished for disturbing the Emperor.

"I have felt him, my master," Vader insisted.

"Strange that I have not. I wonder if your feelings on this matter are clear,

Lord Vader."

"They are clear, my master." Vader's voice was strong and sure when he said this. _Was it "too" strong and sure?_ The Emperor wasn't sure yet.

"Then you must go for the sanctuary moon and wait for him," Palpatine ordered.

"He will come to me?"

"I have foreseen it. His compassion for you will be his undoing. He will come to you, and then you will bring him before me."

"As you wish."

Vader bowed and left, and once again the Emperor was left alone to ponder the future of his galaxy.

* * *

Luke jogged into the clearing where they had seen the first two Stormtroopers and looked around for Han and the commandos. Soon Han stepped out from behind a tree, looking very relieved he was back. "Luke!" he called, voice confirming his state of mind. He looked behind Luke. "Where's Leia?"

Luke frowned. Leia wasn't with Han? "What - she didn't come back?"

Han gave him a threatening look. "I thought she was with you."

"We got separated," Luke retorted. He looked around behind Han, though he needn't have bothered. "We have to go look for her. I can't sense her!"

"Okay, kid, okay. We'll find her," Han reassured the young Jedi. He told the commandos to meet them at the shield bunker the following day.

"R2-D2, C-3PO, you come too. We'll need R2-D2's sensors," Luke called to the droids as he, Chewie and Han set off.

* * *

Three hours later, they arrived in a small clearing strewn with debris. Luke went to check some of it out. It was definitely speeder debris - it matched the one they had seen about two hundred metres back the way they came, and that wasn't as broken up as this one or these ones had been.

"Luke! Over here!" Han called. Luke jogged up to the smuggler and stopped short when he held up a camouflage hardhat. "It's Leia's," Han said softly.

"I hope she's all right," Luke added fervently, trying to calm down the panic forming in his mind.

Suddenly Chewie growled from another clearing.

"What, Chewie?" Han called as he and Luke ran up to the Wookiee. As they got closer, Han repeated, "What, Chewie?"

They stopped next to a tall stake with raw meat impaled on its point. Chewie was growling at it like it was his best friend. "Hey I don't get it," Han said. "It's just a dead animal, Chewie."

Just as Chewie reached for the meat, something clicked in Luke's mind. "Chewie, wait, don't!" he shouted, lunging for the Wookiee. Too late - Han, Chewie, Luke, R2-D2 and C-3PO were all swept up in a huge net.

"Great, Chewie, just great! Always thinking with your stomach!" Han berated his friend, getting a mournful growl in return.

"Would you two shut up and help me try and think of a way out of this mess?" Luke demanded. "Han - can you reach my lightsaber? "One of Luke's arms was pinned straight out in front of him, the other between C-3PO and the net.

"Yeah, sure!" Han replied, trying to claw his way around the outside of the net. At least both his arms were free.

Just as Han was getting close, Luke felt the floor (which was R2-D2 at the moment) drop out from beneath him. Before he could do anything, let alone draw on the Force, they all plummeted to the ground and landed in a huge, painful heap.

After rolling away from everyone else, Luke pushed himself up into a sitting position, groaning. Luckily he had landed on R2-D2, so he hadn't been hurt seriously, but he did have a few bruises. He gently touched one that was already forming, snatching his hand away when a small wave of pain issued from that area. "R2," he groaned. "Did you have to cut it without warning us? I could have..." his voice trailed off as he saw that they were not the only ones in this clearing.

* * *

Hope you liked it. Please review. - Tomb Raider X 


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

Luke still couldn't believe it. He had sat up, and realised they were surrounded by short, furry creatures that would have looked almost cute, but for their spears and other weapons. They were obviously the ones who had set the trap the Rebels had stumbled into, and this made Han mad. The fact that one of the short and fuzzy little creatures had ambled up and stuck a spear in Han's face didn't help matters any.

However, the mood of the entire encounter was changed when C-3PO, protocol droid extraordinaire boasting over six million forms of communication and ways to be annoying, sat up and announced that his head hurt. The creatures had gasped in awe and started chanting, bowing their heads in obvious reverence.

C-3PO hadn't been sure, but to Luke it was pretty obvious, that these aliens thought he was a god. Of course, Han had thought it was completely ridiculous, but Luke could understand how they felt to a degree. He doubted they had ever got close enough to the Imperial base to see a droid, so to them C-3PO was a golden-coloured metal god. After all, he was shaped like a human, but humans weren't gold, so therefore he had to be a god.

Luke, Han, Chewie and R2-D2 had been carried through the trees at dizzying heights on horizontal wooden poles. C-3PO had been set on a chair, carried on a litter and treated much more carefully than the others, who were continually grunting as they were accidentally swung into tree trunks and the like. But finally they had reached the main village square, where C-3PO was set on a small, raised platform and the others were stood up against a wall, still tied to their poles.

Except for Han, that is. The Ewoks must have taken a disliking to him, because he was placed on a spit over what looked suspiciously like a fire pit. "Hey! What are you doing?" Han protested, looking over his shoulder to try and see what was happening. "What-- wait, no, don't! Hey!" Han saw the Ewok reaching toward him with what looked like primitive fire-starting equipment.

Suddenly, there was a clamour from the doorway of a nearby hut. The Ewoks were all turning around to look, and Luke noticed that some of them were trying to prevent something from leaving it. To his surprise, Princess Leia stepped out and looked around.

"Leia!" he and Han both exclaimed when they saw her.

"Princess Leia! Thank the gods!" C-3PO added.

The Ewoks weren't giving in to Leia's demands to set her friends free. They were insistent that Han was to be the main course in a banquet in C-3PO's honour. Luke watched for a short while, then a plan started to form. "C-3PO," he called. "Tell them that if they don't set us free you'll become angry and use your powers."

"But Master Luke, what powers? I couldn't possibly--" C-3PO protested nervously.

"Just tell them," Luke insisted.

C-3PO spoke to them in their language, causing a short silence, followed by an obvious refusal. "You see, I told you it wouldn't work..." C-3PO's voice faded as Luke concentrated on the Force, eyes closed. Specifically, the presence of the Force around the litter C-3PO sat on. He gently eased it off the platform, spinning it in the air above the Ewoks' heads. Peripherally he was aware of a panic, Ewoks running anywhere and everywhere, trying to take cover from the "Angry God". That same "Angry God" was in just as much panic as the Ewoks.

When Luke slowly opened his eyes, still concentrating, he saw that a few things had changed. He was free. He ran over and embraced Leia.

After a while, Luke released her and slipped his arm around her waist, leading her over to where Han and Chewie were talking in soft tones to each other. They swapped partners, Luke embracing Chewie, and Han hugging Leia.

"Are you all right?" Luke asked his sister. She didn't know that particular fact yet, though. Another thing he would have to tell her.

"I'm fine," Leia told him, smiling. "The Ewoks have been so hospitable and friendly to me since Wicket found me in that clearing."

"That's good to hear," Luke replied.

"Not necessarily," came Han's sarcastic voice from next to him. "They have this obsession with hugging you whenever they see you, for no apparent reason."

Luke grinned. "Like you and Chewie, for example."

"Well, yeah... but that's different. It's like having four extraordinarily large leeches hanging off you at once. Leia doesn't seem to mind, however," Han commented.

Leia blushed a bit. "Well, they're so cute and cuddly. It's hard not to hug them and squeeze them like teddy bears."

* * *

C-3PO's voice spoke from the front of the warm, softly lit Ewok hut, telling the story of the Rebellion from when Luke first met the droids, to Han's rescue from carbonite. R2-D2 added a few sound effects where appropriate and 3PO even mimicked a few things with his metal body, like the first Death Star's explosion and the Imperial walkers.

Luke Skywalker was amused by 3PO's story, but something deep down inside was bothering him.

After a brief exchange between the Ewok chief, Chirpa, and 3PO, the protocol droid turned to the Rebels and announced,

"Wonderful. We are now a part of the tribe."

"Great," Han exclaimed wryly. "Just what I always wanted."

Leia smiled then frowned slightly. Luke's sense had become very tense all of a sudden. She looked around but couldn't see him. She decided he must have gone outside. She patted Han's arm, explained where she was going, then got up and went outside.

"Luke, what's wrong?" came Leia's voice from behind Luke. He turned to face his sister. He had a lot of things to tell her.

"Leia," he started. "Do you remember your mother, your real mother?"

She seemed surprised by this question. "Just a little bit. She died when I was very young."

"What do you remember?" he persisted.

"Just images, really... feelings." Leia was concerned now.

"Tell me," he directed.

"She was very beautiful, kind, but sad." She paused. "Why are you asking me this?"

Luke looked away. "I have no memory of my mother. I never knew her."

"Luke, tell me. What's troubling you?"

"Vader is here, now, on this moon."

"How do you know?"

"I felt his presence. He's come for me. He can feel when I'm near -that's why I have to go. As long as I stay I'm endangering the group and our mission here. I have to face him."

"Why?"

There was a silence that seemed to last a lifetime. The words were so much more difficult to get out when they were directed at someone. Finally, Luke admitted, "He's my father."

"Your father..." Leia revealed with disgust and shock she didn't bother to conceal. How could it be true? How could the most evil man in the galaxy, next to the Emperor, be the father of the man she considered to be the most just and caring?

"There's more. It won't be easy for you to hear it, but you must," Luke continued. "If I don't make it back, you're the only hope for the Alliance."

"Luke, don't talk that way. You have a power I don't understand, and could never have."

"You're wrong, Leia. You have that power too. In time, you'll learn to use it as I have." He paused. Now came the most difficult part. "The Force is strong in my family. My father has it. I have it. And…My sister has it." Recognition dawned on the Rebel princess' face. "Yes. It's you, Leia."

"I know. Somehow... I've always known," Leia told him, and he felt she was just as astonished about that as he was.

"Then you know why I have to face him."

"No!" she protested, jumping to her feet. "Luke, run away! Far away. If he can feel your presence then leave this place. I wish I could go with you."

"No you don't. You've always been strong."

"But why must you confront him?" She was valiantly trying to hold back the tears. Luke hated doing this to her, but she had to be told, and if he didn't make it back, well... it would be better if she knew.

"Because there is good in him, I've felt it. He won't turn me over to the Emperor, I can save him, I can turn him back... to the good side. I have to try." Now Luke was fighting the tears as well. He had to leave; he couldn't let her see him upset. She had to have at least one strong person to lean on.

He kissed her cheek, and headed away over the walkways. Of course,

Luke didn't really believe he wouldn't meet the Emperor. He knew it was part of his destiny, could feel it in his bones. But maybe there was a chance he could turn his father before meeting the Emperor. It would be comforting to know his father was there by his side as he confronted the evil master of the dark side.

* * *

Luke walked quickly through the forest, his ears and Force senses open for any sign of an Imperial craft, be it a speeder bike or an AT-AT. He had decided to stick to his plan of just finding an Imperial and surrendering to them. He reasoned he would be taken straight to Darth Vader, which is where he wanted to be. 

Suddenly, the nose of an AT-AT crashed its way into view past the dense trees.

Luke stepped into view of the cabin in the AT-AT. The figures in the cabin started moving around, and one figure raise his arm and point at Luke, who stood there with both arms raised, palms open, in the universal gesture of surrender. The figure that had pointed at him gestured at something else; he was ordering the AT-AT's Stormtroopers to exit the vehicle and capture their new prisoner. These Stormtroopers wouldn't be in the vehicle during a battle, of course, since the AT-AT would be more concerned with shooting things rather than capturing prisoners. A hatch on the side of the AT-AT swung open from top to bottom, forming a platform wide enough for eight people. The Stormtroopers marched onto it and it began to lower on invisible repulsor lifts.

Two of the Stormtroopers immediately snapped their blaster rifles at Luke.

"Take it easy, I'm surrendering," Luke told the Stormtroopers.

* * *

Luke Skywalker felt numb all over. He was nervous and worried for himself. They chilled him to the bone. 

"Stand up," one of the Stormtroopers ordered, unbuckling his restraints and training his blaster on Luke. The Lieutenant in command of the AT-AT stood there, hands clasped behind his back, which was ramrod straight. His cap had been securely pushed into position, hair combed neatly, uniform jacket and insignia in perfect place and perfect alignment with his shoulders. Luke could sense a major change in attitude as well - the Lieutenant's perceptions seemed more fine-tuned, his determination was stronger, and above all, there was a slight sense of fear lurking underneath all his other emotions. Luke had only sensed these kinds of emotions in one particular circumstance before.

When an Imperial officer was about to come face to face with the

Dark Lord of the Sith. Darth Vader.

Luke's father.

Luke tensed as he felt the vibrations of the AT-AT cease. The walker stood dormant while the Stormtroopers formed up around himself. Then one Stormtrooper reached a hand out to flick the comm unit on and exchanged words with an unseen controller. He acknowledged whatever the controller said and palmed a sensor, which allowed the door to slide open. Luke was prodded into a small holding area similar to an airlock in size, enclosed within ranks of Stormtroopers. The Lieutenant took the lead, and once the door to the AT-AT was closed, he reached out and pressed a simple button which caused the next door to glide open.

Before the door was fully open, Luke heard the ominous heavy breathing that was the most striking characteristic of Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith. Heavy boots clanked on the metal deck of the walkway as Vader turned to face the Lieutenant.

"This is a Rebel that surrendered to us. Although he denies it, I believe there may be more of them, and I request permission to conduct a further search of the area." He gives Luke's lightsaber to Vader. "He was armed only with this."

The Dark Lord nodded. "Good work, Lieutenant. Leave us. Conduct your search and bring his companions to me," he ordered.

"Yes, my Lord." The Lieutenant clicked his heels together smartly, saluted, and spun around to return to his walker.

Vader turned around and walked toward the middle of the walkway, fingering Luke's lightsaber. "The Emperor has been expecting you."

"I know, father," Luke replied, drawing on the calm presence of the Force. It lent him strength, allowing him to maintain his facade of the unafraid, self-assured Jedi.

"So, you have accepted the truth," Vader said.

"I have accepted the truth that you were once Anakin Skywalker, my father," Luke corrected.

"That name no longer has any meaning for me."

"It is the name of your true self, you've only forgotten! I know there is good in you. The Emperor hasn't driven it from you fully." Taking a breath, Luke walked to the railing and laid his manacled hands on it, staring out at the forest unseeing. "That was why you couldn't destroy me. That is why you won't bring me to your Emperor now."

Vader ignited Luke's lightsaber. "I see you have constructed a new lightsaber." He inspected it carefully, waving it around. "Your skills are complete," Vader said, shutting the lightsaber off and turning toward his son. "Indeed you are powerful, as the Emperor has foreseen."

Luke turned as well, an intense look in his eyes. "Come with me."

"Obi-Wan once thought as you do. You don't know the power of the dark side. I _must_ obey my master," he told his son.

"I will not turn," Luke warned. "And you'll be forced to kill me."

"If that is your destiny," Vader said dispassionately.

"Search your feelings, father," Luke insisted. "You can't do this. I feel the conflict within you, let go of your hate."

"It is too late for me, son." While Vader stood there studying him, he must have called for Stormtroopers with his helmet comm because the door at the other end of the corridor slid open, admitting a squad with an officer in the lead. "The Emperor will show you the true nature of the Force. _He_ is your master now."

Luke looked saddened as he nodded his head slowly. "Then my father is truly dead," he said.

Luke followed the Stormtroopers through the door.


	6. Chapter Five

**Thanks to all my reviewers. You guys are all so wonderful. Enjoy the chapter. - Tomb Raider X

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**Chapter Five**

Han and Leia crouched behind a small hillock, staring through macro binoculars at the busy control bunker just ahead of them. A few Ewoks had accompanied them, for safety reasons, they said, but privately Leia thought the bear-like creatures were just plain curious. She didn't mind, as long as they didn't get in the way.

As they watched, a shuttle much like the "Tydirium" lifted off from the landing platform; opened its wings and sailed off into the atmosphere. Leia watched it go. She knew that somewhere inside the shuttle was her brother... her brother... Luke. She had had a hard enough time accepting that the Jedi she had liked and admired for years was actually her long-lost twin brother, but that Darth Vader was her father, and her brother was now on a mission to kill him? That would take time.

Time she didn't have right now.

Sensibly, Leia pushed it to the back of the mind and concentrated her thoughts on the coming ambush. They needed to find some way to sneak into the bunker, which was infinitely preferable to fighting their way through a nest crawling with Stormtroopers, and plant the charges that would detonate the shield generator - all before the Rebel fleet arrived, which they would be doing soon. It was looking harder to accomplish than they had first thought.

"The main entrance to the control bunker's on the far side of that landing platform. This isn't going to be easy," she voiced her fears.

The ever-cocky Han replied, "Hey, don't worry. Chewie and me got into a lot of places more heavily guarded than this."

With a rueful smile, Leia half-listened to 3PO and an Ewok chatter in the Ewok language in the background while trying to figure out a method of entry. Finally getting tired of the chatter she couldn't have a hope of understanding without a translator, she demanded, "What's he saying?"

3PO turned to her and told her, "He says there's a secret entrance on the other side of the ridge."

A slow smile spread across the Rebel princess' face.

* * *

In the blackness of space just outside the Sullust home world, the Millennium Falcon roared past the stationary Rebel fleet. Lando Calrissian had been surprised at the number of ships assembled - he had heard the Rebels were a tiny and ineffectual movement. Instead, he was zooming past Calamarian cruisers, huge Medical Frigates, Corellian gun ships, and their smaller fighter cousins, the A-Wings, B-Wings, X-Wings and Y-Wings. All capital ships were either in formation or approaching formation, while their escorts were gathering around them, as per Admiral Ackbar's orders. 

Lando knew this was probably the single most important event of his life. In command of a fleet of Rebel fighters, out to attack and destroy the Empire once and for all. All these lives, thousands of them, depended on his decisions. One mistake could cause the entire attack plan to backfire on them. So the former Baron of Cloud City wanted no mistakes. Making a circuit of the ships once more to assure full battle readiness, Lando returned to the head of the formation and flicked on his comm. "Admiral, we're in position," he spoke into the mouthpiece. "All fighters accounted for."

"Proceed with the countdown." The reply came in the Admiral's gruff Mon Calamari tone, determined and ready. "All groups assume attack coordinates," he finished.

Lando glanced at his Sullustan co-pilot, Nien Nunb, as he spoke; then waved his concerns away. "Don't worry, my friend's down there! He'll have that shield down on time."

Nunb didn't seem convinced, muttering to himself about how methodical and efficient Han Solo was, therefore how likely he was to pull this off. Lando shook his head. "Or this'll be the shortest offensive of all time," he murmured to himself.

"All craft," the Admiral's voice crackled over the comm speaker. "Prepare to jump into hyperspace on my mark."

This was it. The most important day of his life was about to begin. "All right, stand by," he instructed his fighters, hand ready on the hyperspace lever. Taking a deep breath, he waited for the tone that would signal the jump to hyperspace.

With a flicker of pseudo motion, the fleet vanished as though it had never been, on its way to the battle for the galaxy.

* * *

Han Solo crept through the thick jungle. They were coming up on the Ewoks's secret entrance, and Leeyar was scouting up ahead. His ear tufts looked like strange moving plants that moved forward and back and constantly twitched from side to side. He was almost excruciatingly cute, which was mainly why Han was easily annoyed by the walking teddy bears. He could live with cute things or beings, but not these Ewoks. They were just too damn cute. 

The furry being up ahead signalled a halt-and-duck, which looked so ridiculous on a teddy bear that Han nearly laughed, but it was obeyed anyway. He crept forward to join Leeyar, Leia and a few more Ewoks, including Wicket, the Ewok that had found Leia, followed. They crouched behind a bush and watched the activity, or lack of it, surrounding the squat, dark grey bunker.

"Back door, huh," Han commented. "Good idea."

He was peripherally aware of two Ewoks having a vehement discussion.

_Probably domestic,_ he thought with a mental snort. It would be just like the completely battle-naive Ewoks to start arguing over problems in the home while they were scouting out the enemy.

Han watched the four Scout troopers chatting in a circle below them. With another mental snort at their apparent incompetence, he commented, "There's only a few guards. This shouldn't be too much trouble."

"But it only takes one to sound the alarm," Leia warned him.

He nodded in agreement, casting an annoyed glance at 3PO, who had just exploded with what sounded like, "Naku! Aku-tak-tak?"

An Ewok was now scampering away from their little group. Returning his attention to the task at hand, Han replied, "Then we'll do it real quiet-like."

"Oh!" came a loud protest in an all-too familiar mechanical voice. "Oh, my! Princess Leia!" Leia immediately jumped up and slipped her hand over the protocol droid's mouth. Han couldn't help but be impressed at the skill she moved with - she had made sure both she and 3PO were out of sight of the Scout troopers as well as being absolutely silent and very fast. He took a brief moment to wonder how she had gotten so skilled at commando techniques. She was, after all, a valuable Rebel leader, and therefore wouldn't be allowed to go on many missions at all. Maybe she was just naturally skilled at it, as she was with diplomacy.

Recognising Leia's wish for quiet, 3PO adjusted his vocal volume control before he next spoke. "I'm afraid our furry companion has gone and done something rather rash," he told her.

Heart sinking, Han turned toward the direction the Ewok had scampered off in.

Leia vocalised his thoughts. "Oh no." As did Chewie, with a mournful growl.

The Ewok was busy climbing onto one of the four speeder bikes sitting in a small alcove waiting for their owners. "There goes our surprise attack," Han said as he watched the furry little being flip switches and press buttons.

It was actually quite comical to see the startled Ewok squeal as the bike shot off into the trees, leaving him hanging on to the handle bars for dear life. There came a shout from the Scout troopers as they heard the noise of the engine, then three of them sprinted for the remaining three bikes, jumped on and raced off after the Ewok thief.

A smile spread across Han's face. _Well, they would have wanted a diversion anyway..._ "Not bad for a little fur ball," he commented, grinning at Leia. "There's only one left." He turned to R2 and 3PO. "You stay here. We'll take care of this."

As he headed off in one flanking direction, Leia and the rest of the Rebel commando team in the other, he heard 3PO announce, "I have decided that we shall stay here."

* * *

Scout trooper no. HM-237 stood in front of the back door to the shield generator bunker, staring straight ahead into the trees. He had been standing there for quite some time, the boredom only being relieved by the appearance of an Ewok, who had stolen a speeder bike from its parking place a short distance away. 237's companions had raced off after it, and had not yet returned. He hoped they hadn't flown into a tree trunk or something equally stupid. 

237 scanned the trees, bored, looking for something to appear out of nowhere and provide him with some shooting practice. He wished he had had his blaster rifle ready, because that Ewok would have been—

Suddenly, he felt a rough tap on his right shoulder. Twisting to the right, he caught a glimpse of a running figure, heading toward his other side. That figure was not Ewok, was not a Stormtrooper, and was not in Imperial uniform.

Nervous excitement spreading through him, Scout trooper HM-237 shouted, "Hey!" and twisted around to the other side. He was just in time to spot the figure darting around the corner of the bunker. Eagerly, he gave chase, fumbling for his blaster as he reached the corner--

And stopped short. Straight in front of him, in alert ready stances, stood at least fifteen camouflaged humans. In front of him was the figure he had seen - a tall human male dressed in black pants with the Corellian blood stripe and a white shirt and vest. He shrugged cockily at 237.

With a sigh, Scout trooper HM-237 straightened up and handed over his blaster rifle.

With a grin, Han Solo headed for the entrance to the bunker, Leia and Chewie following. They used the code Leia had memorised to open the door, and slunk quietly inside.

* * *

In the Emperor's throne room, five red indicator lights lit up one by one as the turbo lift rose to the throne room's level. Silently, the door slid aside, revealing Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. 

The young Jedi Knight was calm and composed, while the Sith Lord's state of mind was impossible to determine. Luke's hands were shackled in front of him, and his father carried his lightsaber. Together, they walked forward, across the walkway and up the steps to stand in front of Emperor Palpatine's throne.

Luke watched the Emperor carefully, studying those shadowed yellow eyes. He knew his life and the life of his father and friends depended on his surviving this ordeal - and that was what it was going to be - an ordeal. Yoda had warned him about the Emperor, and this time he was going to heed his Master's warning. The Emperor was powerful, malevolent, and dangerous, and Luke knew he would need all his wits and skill with the Force to survive this.

"Welcome, young Skywalker. I have been expecting you," Palpatine announced in a voice that would have been conversational, had it not reeked of the dark side. "You no longer need those."

For a moment, Luke wondered what he was talking about, then felt a tiny disturbance in the Force as his binders cracked open. With a slight movement of his hands, they slid from his wrists and crashed to the floor. He looked up, a little nervous. The Emperor was truly powerful - extraordinary control was essential to handle the Force, even the dark side, so delicately.

"Guards, leave us," the Emperor ordered, and Luke felt the presences of the two Imperial guards stationed next to the turbo lift, as well as the two hidden behind it, fade away as they left the room. Palpatine returned his attention to the young Jedi.

"I am looking forward to completing your training," he said. "In time, you will call me master."

"You're gravely mistaken," Luke denied. "You won't convert me as you did my father."

"Oh no, my young Jedi." Emperor Palpatine got up out of his throne and walked toward Luke and Vader, extending a gnarled finger in their direction. "You will find that it is you who are mistaken - about a great many things."

As the Emperor came closer to them, Vader held out Luke's lightsaber. "His lightsaber," he offered. The Emperor took it and studied it.

"Ah yes. A Jedi's weapon. Much like your father's," he commented. "By now you must know that your father can never be turned from the dark side. So will it be with you."

Luke shook his head slowly. "You're wrong. Soon I'll be dead. And you with me." Something was nagging at the back of his mind. He knew he should be able to, but he couldn't quite grasp what it was.

To his dismay, Palpatine only laughed shortly. "Perhaps you refer to the imminent attack of your Rebel fleet?" Luke's eyes opened a little wider as he heard this. _How did--?_ "Yes. I assure you," the Emperor continued, "we are quite safe from your friends here." Friends... That feeling at the back of his mind grew stronger.

"Your overconfidence is your weakness," Luke challenged, buying time. He needed to concentrate on that feeling - he felt that it was important.

"Your faith in your friends is yours," the Emperor snapped in reply.

"It is pointless to resist, my son," Vader added, reminding Luke of his reason for coming here in the first place.

The Emperor stalked back to his throne and sat down. "Everything that has transpired has done so according to my design. Your friends, up there on the Sanctuary Moon, are walking into a trap, as is your Rebel fleet. It was I who allowed the Alliance to know the location of the shield generator. It is quite safe from your pitiful little band. An entire legion of my best troops awaits them. Oh..." he leaned forward, making a mockingly sad face. "I'm afraid the deflector shield will be quite operational when your friends arrive."

The sound of his laughter echoed around the throne room.

* * *

The door to the command centre of the bunker blew open with a shower of sparks. Han Solo charged in, shouting, "All right! Up, move! Come on!" Chewbacca, Leia, and the other Rebel commandos poured in behind him and spread out, Chewie roaring in his native language. One spotted an officer running past the power core and leaped at him, knocking him over the safety railing easily. 

"Quickly, quickly!" Han ordered, herding the officers into a corner of the bunker. "Chewie!" he called, and left the prisoners under Chewie's more than capable guard.

"Han! Hurry, the fleet will be here any moment!" Leia told him urgently after checking the scopes, which were aimed at the area surrounding the Death Star.

"Charges come on! Come on!" Han demanded. One of the commandos threw him a bag, which he snatched out of mid-air and began pulling open.

* * *

C-3PO stood next to his astromech counterpart, R2, beside a large tree. They stood with one of the Ewoks, watching anxiously as the Rebel commandos made their way into the bunker. 

Suddenly, Stormtroopers sprung up out of nowhere, all aiming their blasters at the guard the Rebels had left behind, dressed as one of them. Seeing the overwhelming odds, he raised his hands and was herded away as a squad of Stormtroopers ran into the bunker.

"Oh my!" 3PO exclaimed, servos whirring excitedly. "They'll be captured!" The Ewok chattered something, then scrambled off into the forest, leaving the two droids behind. "Wait, come back!" 3PO called. He did not want to be left alone, all out in the open like he was, with an army of Stormtroopers gathering outside the bunker.

Possessively, he clunked a metal hand down on R2's dome. "R2, stay with me!"

* * *

"Freeze!" 

Han spun around, startled, and threw the empty case at the speaker as soon as he saw the grey uniform of an Imperial officer. It knocked him, yelling, over the safety railing and into the power core. Before Han could react, a whole squad of Stormtroopers came flooding into the small room, and suddenly, one of the officers they had captured held a blaster and was aiming it at him.

"You Rebel scum," the officer spat with contempt.

* * *

On board the Millennium Falcon, Lando Calrissian sat with his hand resting on the lever that would bring them out of hyperspace. He was tense, frightened, nervous and excited all at once, and desperately trying to concentrate on the numbers that would indicate when to pull that lever. They slowly diminished, until finally the display flashed zero. With a quick breath, Lando pulled the lever, and the bewildering sky of hyperspace stretched into star lines, then dissolved into stars. For an instant they hurtled straight at the Death Star and the Sanctuary moon of Endor, then slowed as the hyper-decelerators kicked in. 

Behind and all around him, capital ships and fighters burst out of hyperspace and slowed with him. "All wings, report in," he ordered over the comm.

Wedge's distinctive voice, only slightly distorted by Alliance comm equipment, replied, "Red Leader, standing by."

Another voice responded, "Grey Leader, standing by."

And another, "Green Leader, standing by."

Wedge's voice came over the speakers again, adding, "Lock s-foils in attack position."

Lando watched as the X-wings' s-foils separated and the B-wings' lower wings raised. There were dozens of fighters, milling around his ship and buzzing around each other like insects. It was hard to remember there were actually pilots in each one of them, but Lando tried even harder not to forget.

"May the Force be with us," came the voice of Admiral Ackbar.

Lando's Sullustan co-pilot, Nien Nunb, said something to Lando in his own language. Lando frowned. "We've gotta be able to get some kind of reading on that shield - up or down?" The Sullustan added something, sounding a little more agitated. Lando looked at the sensor display to be sure. "But how can they be jamming us if they don't know we-- if we're coming," he finished slowly, horror spreading across his face as he realised what he had just said.

Frantically, he slapped the transmit button on the comm. "Break off the attack! The shield is still up!" he shouted.

Wedge's confused voice replied, "I get no reading - you sure?"

"Pull up!" Lando demanded. "All craft pull up!"

One by one the other ships followed suit, heeling hard over and turning back the way they came. For a moment, Lando was worried the capital ships weren't going to make it, but they just managed to turn in time. He himself pulled the control yoke in front of him, yanking the Falcon onto a different course.

On the Calamarian cruiser, Home One, the bridge was buzzing with frantic activity as the horizon tilted outside the view screen.

"Take evasive action," came the Admiral's experienced voice.

"Green group, stick close to holding sector MT-7."

From behind the Admiral, a voice called, "Admiral! We have enemy ships in sector 47!"

Ackbar snapped his head back around to the view screen, watching countless Star Destroyers appear in the distance. "It's a trap!" he moaned.

Lando, followed by the fighters of the Rebel Alliance, were headed straight for the Star Destroyers when they noticed something new on their scopes - lots of something new.

"Fighters, coming in!" Lando warned as he twisted the Falcon to avoid the lasers of the hundreds of TIE Fighters. His gunners returned fire without aiming - it wasn't necessary because space was thick with the things.

"There's too many of them," came a cry over the comm, undoubtedly from some fighter caught in the middle of a large group, like they were.

All around them, TIE's and Rebel fighters began exploding in the first stages of battle. "Accelerate to attack speed. Draw their fire away from the cruisers!" Lando instructed over the comm.

Immediately he heard, "Copy, Gold Leader," from the ever-competent Wedge, Red Leader. The Falcon dived over the hull of a Calamarian cruiser, dodging and weaving to avoid enemy fire.

* * *

"Come, boy. See for yourself," Emperor Palpatine ordered, gesturing to his left. Luke walked to the view port beside the Emperor's throne and looked out. "From here you will witness the final destruction of the Alliance, and the end of your insignificant Rebellion," Palpatine gloated. 

Luke tensed, staring at the group of random flashes and blurry capital ships that was the fierce battle between Imperial and Rebel forces. He could feel the emotions of the Rebels clearly - frightened, nervous, but very determined. He felt their terror and pain as they died. He didn't know if he was feeling this himself or if the Emperor was aiding him, but it made him angry, and that scared him.

He twisted around and stared at the lightsaber handle resting on the arm of the Emperor's throne. It would be so easy...

"You want this... don't you," Palpatine murmured, stroking his fingers lightly across the metal casing. "The hate is swelling in you now. Take your Jedi weapon. Use it! I am unarmed. Strike me down with it. Give in to your anger!" he urged. "With each passing moment you make yourself more my servant."

"No," Luke denied, dread in his heart.

"It is unavoidable. It is your destiny. You, like your father... are now... mine."

* * *

Sorry about no author note on last chapter. Story almost done, and a sequel is in progress. Review......Please - Tomb Raider X 


	7. Chapter Six

**Thanks again to all my reviewers - Tomb Raider X

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**Chapter Six**

The sheer number of troops threatened to overwhelm Han as he and the others were led out of the bunker, hands on their heads. He glanced at Leia, and saw the same dejected, despairing look on her face as he figured was on his. Chewie growled mournfully. There were hundreds of troops, as well as a group of AT-ST walkers. In the face of all this evidence, Han had to conclude that they had walked straight into an elaborate trap. Which meant that their friends in the ships preparing to attack the Death Star were also walking into a trap, and they were all going to die. Every single one of them—

"Hello!" Han looked up at the sound of a very familiar voice. "I say, over here!" His heart sank as he saw the familiar golden metal body, arms waving woodenly above its head. 3PO! And -- R2? Han had thought R2 was much smarter than the protocol droid. Smarter than standing in the open when a bunch of Imperials had just sprung a trap on your friends, anyway. "Were you looking for me?"

The Imperial army had noticed as well. "Bring those two down here," an officer ordered, and a squad rushed off to obey as the droids slipped back behind the tree they were next to.

3PO looked at R2. "Well, they're on their way. R2, are you sure this was a good idea?" he pleaded as the first Stormtrooper reached their tree.

"Don't move," the Stormtrooper ordered, aiming his blaster rifle at the two droids.

3PO raised his arms above his head and replied, "We surrender!"

Before the Stormtrooper could do anything else, a group of Ewoks leaped from above them to land on and amongst him and his squad. They carried rocks, ropes and sticks, and their squeaky voices resounded with battle cries as they used their primitive weapons to great effect against the Stormtroopers in their confining armour.

From the treetops above, the sound of a horn came floating, loud and strong, over the breeze. Every being - Rebel and Imperial alike - looked up at its sound. It was echoed by another horn from further away, the sound floating over the treetops.

Han Solo watched in amazement as Ewoks - at least two hundred of them - burst up from the bushes in stages - one group after another. They wore what he recognised as full battle dress - helms and all - and aimed primitive bows and arrows at the Imperials. As one of them, one with a larger helm than the others lowered a tomahawk, the archers let loose their arrows.

Suddenly, it was raining arrows, and the Imperials were distracted. Han grabbed the nearest Stormtrooper and threw him to the ground, while Chewie threw a Stormtrooper into another and Leia kicked the one nearest her, grabbed her blaster, and shot an officer leaning out of an AT-ST. Han spotted a blaster on the ground and grabbed it, throwing another Stormtrooper over his shoulder. He spotted Leia sprinting toward the bunker, so he followed, covering her as she entered the code to open the door.

"Code's changed!" Leia announced angrily. "We need R2." Han looked at the control panel of the bunker and found what he was looking for. "Here's the terminal," he told her, then turned back to the battle, blaster at the ready.

She grabbed the comlink from her belt and thumbed it on. "R2, where are you?" she shouted into it. "We need you at the bunker right away!"

Still standing next to their tree, R2 and 3PO argued.

"Going? What do you mean, you're going?" the protocol droid demanded. "Going where, R2?" The little droid bleeped and began to roll in the direction of the bunker. "No, wait! R2!" Alarmed, 3PO followed after him. "This is no time for heroics! Come back!"

* * *

Lando sent the 'Falcon' hurtling past an Alliance cruiser, following Wedge in his X-wing. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something. "Watch yourself, Wedge!" he called over the comm. "Three from above."

"Red three, red two, pull in," Wedge ordered in response.

"Got it," came the reply, and Lando watched as the two Rebel fighters dove from above and took out the TIEs that had been threatening Wedge. "Three of them coming in, twenty degrees," the same voice continued.

"Cut to the left, I'll take the leader," Wedge instructed. Lando dodged another TIE, and his gunners used his manoeuvre to take out another. When he had pulled out of his manoeuvre, Wedge continued, "They're heading for the medical frigate!"

Lando swore under his breath and turned the Falcon to follow the TIEs. His gunners took out another two before he came out from behind the frigate, heading toward the stationary Star Destroyers. He frowned. "Only the fighters are attacking," Lando observed, confused, as he levelled the Falcon out. "I wonder what those Star Destroyers are waiting for."

* * *

Admiral Piett turned as a messenger approached from the direction of the crew pit, on board the Super Star Destroyer Executor.

"We're in attack position now, sir," the messenger told him, saluting.

The Admiral nodded in satisfaction. "Hold here," he ordered. The messenger frowned. "We're not going to attack?" he asked.

Piett shook his head with a small smile. "I have my orders from the Emperor himself. He has something special planned for them. We have only to keep them from escaping."

* * *

"As you can see, my young apprentice," Emperor Palpatine continued to taunt him, seemingly unaware of his internal turmoil, "Your friends have failed. Now, witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational battle station!"

Cold fear gripped Luke's heart as he watched the Emperor hit a button on his throne's comm port. "Fire at will, Commander," he ordered.

Luke snapped his head around to watch the distant space battle; then looked back at the Emperor. He turned his head back and forth frantically, trying to think of something he could possibly do to stop this from happening, but his mind was infuriatingly blank.

In the Death Star control room, a naval ensign pushed the correct buttons to power up the awesome super laser that gave the Death Star its name. Another ensign pulled a lever and pressed a few buttons, calibrating the massive weapon.

"Fire!" came the Commander's order.

With the flip of a switch, the small beams that made up the super laser surged through their conduits and into the focussing dish, where they coalesced into one powerful beam. That beam shot out from the Death Star and impacted with a distant Calamarian cruiser. The cruiser had no chance.

* * *

"Whoa!" Lando exclaimed, echoed by his co-pilot, as there was a bright flash from the direction of the Death Star and a Calamarian cruiser in front of him exploded in a brilliant ball of fire. "That blast came from the Death Star! That thing's operational!" He reached out and hit the comm transmission key. "Home One, this is Gold Leader."

"We saw it," came Admiral Ackbar's grave voice. "All craft prepare to retreat."

"We won't get another chance at this, Admiral," Lando warned.

"We have no choice, General Calrissian." Ackbar argued. "Our cruisers can't repel fire power of that magnitude!"

"Han will have that shield down, you've got to give him more time!"

* * *

Leia scanned the area around the bunker carefully as the two droids made their way to where she and Han were standing. She spotted a Stormtrooper and shot him quickly.

"We're coming, we're coming!" 3PO called, arms flailing as he shuffled toward them.

"Come on, come on," Han said in reply, stepping back and crouching behind R2 as the little droid extended his data arm and plugged it into the socket. Leia moved back, allowing Han to cover them.

Han aimed his blaster carefully and shot a Stormtrooper who was about to come too close, then darted back behind R2 as another one popped up above the bushes a short distance away and shot at him. That particular trooper stayed above the bushes and shot again, just before Han had resumed his position next to R2. The blaster bolt impacted on R2's flimsy data arm, sending the little droid flying backwards across the entrance to the bunker.

Han spotted the Stormtrooper and shot him quickly, turning to the little droid.

R2 came to a stop at the opposite wall and started bleeping in ever increasing distress as his dome spun around, compartments popped open and tiny explosions were set off across his surface. Finally the bleeping stopped, and with a mournful wail, R2 toppled over to hit the ground with a crash.

Han and Leia looked at each other mournfully. "Well, I suppose I can hotwire this thing," Han said.

* * *

"Yes, I said closer!" Lando insisted, instinctively ducking as a blast came too close to the Falcon's cockpit. "Move as close as you can and engage those Star Destroyers at point blank range!"

"At that close range we won't last long against those Star Destroyers," Ackbar protested from Home One.

"We'll last longer than we will against that Death Star," Lando countered. "And we might just take a few of them with us!"

* * *

Luke stared out the view port at the distant battle. The Death Star fired again, obliterating another cruiser filled with thousands of innocent beings. Luke cringed. He knew what Ben Kenobi had felt like when Alderaan was destroyed, now. Luke could feel their deaths, every single one of them, and they pressed on his consciousness like a heavy weight. How could he allow their murderer to sit there in front of him and do it again?

"Your fleet is lost, and your friends on the Endor moon will not survive," the Emperor commented, almost mournfully. "There is no escape, my young apprentice."

The emphasis on the last three words unnerved Luke, prompting him to turn and study his father for signs of unease. Finding none, he turned his gaze back to the Emperor. He fought desperately for control.

"The Alliance will die, as will your friends," Palpatine continued, staring straight back at him. Unable to stop himself, Luke glanced at his lightsaber, sitting untouched on the Emperor's armrest. With closed eyes, Palpatine whispered, "Good... I can feel your anger." He opened his eyes. "I am defenceless. Take your weapon. Strike me down with all of your hatred and your journey toward the dark side will be complete."

Luke closed his eyes for a moment. He could not; he would not...

Luke's head snapped up. He extended his arm and brought his lightsaber flying into his waiting hand; it arrived with a comforting slap of metal against flesh. In one move, Luke ignited it with a snap-hiss, brought it up and slashed down at the Emperor—

Only to be stopped by the bright red blade of his father's lightsaber.

* * *

"I think I got it!" Han exclaimed, eagerly fiddling with two wires.

"I got it!" His grin turned to an expression of dismay as an extra heavy door closed across the first. Making a face, he turned back to his work.

The gruesome sound of a blaster bolt impacting against flesh came from next to him, accompanied by Leia's anguished yell. Immediately Han squatted down next to her and tried to move her further into cover. He ignored 3PO's concern and said to Leia,

"Let me see."

She shook her head with clenched teeth. "It's not bad."

"Freeze," came an all too familiar metallic voice from behind them. "Don't move." Han saw the resigned recognition in Leia's eyes; then followed those eyes to the holster at her side... and the blaster Leia was slowly pulling from it with her uninjured hand. Looking back up into her eyes, Han grinned lopsidedly and said fervently, "I love you."

Leia smiled in return. "I know."

"Hands up!" the Stormtrooper demanded. "Stand up!"

Slowly, Han turned around; then dived out of Leia's way as she brought her blaster up and fired. The shot impacted with the trooper's chest, sending him sprawling backwards. Han turned back around and grinned at Leia. He glanced back, only to find the smile wiped from his face as an Imperial Scout Walker levelled its turbo lasers at them. "Stay back," he warned Leia, then climbed to his feet cautiously.

As he watched, the top hatch of the walker opened up. Tensing, Han prepared himself for anything...

But was caught totally unprepared when Chewbacca rose up out of the walker, roaring a greeting. "Chewie!" he exclaimed in relief, lowering his arms. "Get down here, she's wounded," he said, gesturing to Leia. Then, his mind caught up. Chewie was sitting there... in an Imperial walker.

"No, wait," he said quickly, then turned to Leia apologetically. "I got an idea."

* * *

Luke swung his lightsaber hard, only to feel it impact with Vader's again. He twisted and thrust underneath his father's lightsaber, and when he parried, Luke changed direction and came at him from the other side. This time Vader parried and struck, and Luke only just blocked him in time. He pushed back at Vader, forcing him back a step, then followed, spotted an opening and lashed out with his foot, sending his father tumbling backwards down the stairs. He quickly shut off his lightsaber.

"Good," the Emperor coaxed. "Use your aggressive feelings, boy. Let the hate flow through you."

"Obi-Wan has taught you well," Vader announced. The Sith lord was making his way slowly up the steps.

"I will not fight you, father," Luke said, as much to himself as to Vader. He moved warily backwards, trying to keep a little distance between them. He may not want to fight his father, but Vader certainly wanted to fight his son.

"You are unwise to lower your defences!" Luke brought his lightsaber up almost instinctively and blocked Vader's strike, then the next one, and caught the next one on his own blade, bringing the fight to a standstill as he walked up the steps to get to clear ground. As soon as he was in a clear patch, he struck back with four quick strikes, then caught Vader's lightsaber and held it as he rested in a deep lunge.

He tried to quickly think up a strategy, but only one came to mind before he was forced to dodge, then leap, aided by the Force, into a circle of computer monitors. Vader swung at him and he leaped again, turning a backwards layout somersault to land on a low gantry, a metre or so above Vader's head.

There, he shut down his lightsaber and began to walk slowly across the gantry. "Your thoughts betray you, father," he prodded. "I feel the good in you. The conflict."

"There is no conflict," Vader denied darkly.

"You couldn't bring yourself to kill me before, and I don't believe you'll destroy me now," Luke continued. He hoped this was getting some kind of reaction from the man before him. Vader had to realise that there was good in him before he could turn back to the light.

"You underestimate the power of the dark side. If you will not fight, then you will meet your destiny."

Something in Vader's voice set alarm bells ringing in Luke's Force sense, so he was ready for it when Vader threw his lightsaber at a support post. Luke ducked away from the sparks it threw, and consequently was off balance when the gantry fell. He fell with it, tumbling underneath the screeching metal and darting into a dark corner.

* * *

Lando swung the Falcon away from an exploding TIE fighter, then hit the comm switch. "Watch out - squad at point zero six," he advised.

"I'm on it, Gold Leader," came an anonymous reply.

A TIE exploded in front of an X-wing, followed by Wedge's voice.

"Good shot, Red Two."

Taking a breath at a near miss, Lando flew over the hull of a Calamarian cruiser, which was now barely holding its own in a battle with a Star Destroyer. "We're sure in the middle of it now," he commented. "Come on, Han old buddy... don't let me down!"

* * *

Hope you enjoyed it. Only one or two chapters left to go, then I will post the sequel. Please review - Tomb Raider X


	8. Chapter Seven

**Thanks again to all my reviewers!**

**Mike( ):** I do know that Mara Jade has red hair and green eyes, I just prefer her to have brown.

Disclaimer: All things from Star Wars are property of George Lucas, if I haven't said that before.

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

The commander of the shield generator bunker watched as his comm. screen lit up with the figure of an officer, standing in the cockpit of an AT-ST. "It's over, Commander," the image announced. "The Rebels have been routed and they're fleeing into the woods. We need reinforcements to continue the pursuit."

The commander smiled and turned to a junior officer. "Send three squads to help," he ordered. "Open the back door."

Outside the bunker, Han watched from one side of the entrance as the door opened and troops poured out. They jogged out onto the forest floor and stopped, confused at the sight of dead Stormtroopers lying scattered on the ground. Han took that moment to run up behind them. He took up position, blaster aimed and ready, as hundreds of Ewoks popped up from hiding, surrounding the troops. As they turned to look, he couldn't help shrugging and giving them all a cocky grin. They had been trapped, just like they had trapped the Rebel commando team.

Quickly Han and the commandos ran inside the bunker and laid the charges, then charged out of the bunker.

Han Solo sprinted away from the bunker, fear and adrenalin making his legs move faster than he had ever believed possible.

"Move, move!" he shouted. He reached a ditch dug especially for this purpose and dived in, covering his head.

Outside the ditch, the bunker that housed the Death Star's shield generator exploded in an enormous, bright flash of light and heat. Two hundred metres behind it, the Empire's compound exploded, forming a huge wall of fire across the horizon. Finally, the shield was down.

* * *

Lando knew something was happening when his passive sensors, those that weren't jammed, picked up an abnormal emission of light and heat from the moon below him, and he knew it was good when the jamming on his active sensors suddenly ceased.

"The shield is down! Commence attack on the Death Star's main reactor!" came Admiral Ackbar's excited voice over the comm.

Lando broke out in a grin, as did his co-pilot. The Sullustan chattered happily in his own language as Lando turned the Millennium Falcon onto a heading directly towards the Death Star. "We're on our way," he replied on a wide frequency. "Red group, gold group, all fighters follow me!" He laughed out loud. "I told you they'd do it!"

The Falcon dived and twisted over its surface, dodging various defences, towers, and the ever-present TIE fighters. Lando followed Wedge in his X-wing, darting out of the way of laser blasts and proton torpedoes as they made their way to the exhaust shaft that would lead to the power core.

And suddenly, there it was.

"I'm going in," Wedge announced, and dived over the rim of the shaft and into the bowels of the Death Star.

Lando took a breath, muttered, "Here goes nothing," and followed. The shaft was a mass of metal, with bits and pieces protruding from every imaginable place. It made flying a ship as wide as the Falcon especially hard, because the shaft wasn't just stretched out one particular way. Lando had to rotate the ship constantly to avoid being chopped up into three neat parts. "Now, lock onto the strongest power source - it should be the power generator," he instructed.

Wedge put Lando's thoughts into words with his next comment. "Form up. Stay alert - we could run out of space real fast."

A TIE fighter illustrated the amount of control needed to fly in a corridor this tight - after turning a blind corner, it careened off the side of the shaft, to the other, and finally exploded, leaving its mates to fly through the fireball.

Lando studied his scopes and shook his head. There were too many enemy fighters to think about. They couldn't afford being distracted in a tunnel this tight. "Split up," he instructed his group, "and head back to the surface. See if you can get a couple of those TIE fighters to follow you."

An A-wing pilot that Lando had been introduced to by Wedge prior to this battle - Tycho Celchu - responded with, "Copy, Gold Leader." He twisted his A-wing and headed off down a side shaft, while Wedge and Lando continued on down the main one.

Out of nowhere came a gap... too narrow for the Falcon to fit through cleanly. Lando swore and prayed, and Nien Nunb gasped as they flew through, ripping the sensor dish from its mount on the very top of the Falcon. Lando shook his head. "That was too close."

Admiral Ackbar watched the battle tensely from Home One. They were starting to take heavy losses, and he didn't know how much longer he could hold the battle out here. "We've got to give those fighters more time. Concentrate all fire on that Super Star Destroyer," he ordered. If they could just destroy the command ship, it would leave the Imperials floundering-- as well as give the Rebels one hell of a morale boost.

Two A-wings heard his order and concentrated their fire on the bridge shield generator. They pummelled it with their lasers and torpedoes, and eventually it blew.

"Sir, we've lost our bridge deflector shield!"

Admiral Piett twisted to face the crew pit, calling, "Intensify forward batteries, I don't want anything to get through." He turned back to the view screen, just in time to see an out-of-control A-wing plummeting towards it. "Intensify forward firepower!" he yelled desperately.

"Too late!" screamed his second-in-command, and the two of them ran and leaped into the crew pit. As if it would do them any good.

Admiral Ackbar couldn't stop the smile from creeping onto his face as he watched the arrowhead shape of the SSD fall from the sky, parts of it on fire and parts of it breaking away, majestic to the last. His crew cheered, letting out a final cry as the SSD impacted with the side of the Death Star and expanded in a huge fireball.

Lando Calrissian watched the huge, inverted dome of the Death Star's main reactor in awe as he and Wedge flew towards it. It was a whole lot bigger than he had thought it would be, and he fervently hoped his torpedoes would blow it up.

"There it is," Wedge said unnecessarily over the comm.

"All right, Wedge, go for the power regulator on the north tower," Lando ordered.

In front of him, the X-wing swung to the right and released two proton torpedoes, their blue trails glowing. "Copy, Gold Leader," Wedge replied. "I'm already on my way out."

As Lando watched, the power regulator exploded in a wash of gases and Wedge's X-wing circled around behind the main reactor, heading back the way they had come. Quickly, before the gases died down completely, Lando released a couple of torpedoes of his own into the main dome and swung around behind it. The torpedoes exploded, obliterating the link between the inverted dome and the bottom of the chamber. For a moment, nothing happened, and then the dome fell.

Lando watched on his reverse scopes as the dome touched the bottom of the chamber and immediately ignited in a rapidly expanding flood of fire. He pushed the throttle fully open, hurtling down the shaft that had brought them to the chamber. He concentrated fiercely; sweat running down his forehead, as he hurtled toward the exit and open space. Behind him, the fire consumed a TIE.

As he saw the exit hole in the distance, he also spotted the edges of the fire licking at the sides of the shaft. He was sure he would not make it—

And then he was there, exploding out of the shaft and into deep space. He shouted in victory, hurtling towards the moon of Endor.

Against all odds, they had done it.

* * *

Luke Skywalker sat huddled in a dark corner underneath the fallen gantry. He had a few moments of respite, but soon he would have to fight his father again. He desperately did not want to - not because of love for his father, though that was definitely part of it, but because he was close to the dark side and he didn't know what he might do as a result of that love. He could feel the faraway battle on the moon of Endor, and knew that the Rebels were fighting back against the Imperials. Neither side was gaining on the other at the moment, however, and he could not tell who would eventually triumph.

"You cannot hide from me forever, Luke," Vader warned. Luke could also feel his father - stalking the area beneath the gantry in search of his son.

"I will not fight you," he insisted, and tried to focus on the Endor battle again. He could just about sense Han and Leia's presences.

Han was about to finish hotwiring the bunker door so that they could get inside and blow it up.

"Give yourself to the dark side," Vader continued. "It is the only way you can save your friends."

Suddenly, Luke felt pain radiating from his sister. She had been shot! Her shoulder-- it was her shoulder... he could feel the pain she was in, and how she tried to deny it...

"Yes... your thoughts betray you." Wary, Luke pushed her pain to the back of his mind, much as it hurt him to do so, instead of trying to help her. "Your feelings for them are strong. Especially for... sister."

That one single word, spoken by Vader, set all of Luke's panic buttons off at once. "So... you have a twin sister. Your feelings have now betrayed her too. Obi-Wan was wise to hide her from me. Now, his failure is complete. If you will not turn to the dark side... then perhaps she will."

"NOOOOOOOOO!" he screamed, utter anger, hatred towards the father she had to be hidden from, and fear for his sister Leia overwhelming him. He charged out from cover, taking Vader by surprise, and swung his lightsaber mightily. It slammed against Vader's blade, leaving him only able to block, and that only just. Luke advanced continuously, lightsaber slashing back and forth, sometimes hitting Vader's lightsaber, other times impacting with support posts and energy conduits.

The Dark Lord was forced back before the Jedi's fierce rage, until finally his older body could take no more. He fell to one knee, lightsaber barely supported in one hand, barely withstanding Luke's anger. Luke's lightsaber crashed down once, twice, six times before it finally missed and sliced straight through Vader's mechanical hand. The Sith Lord fell to the deck with a cry, exposed machinery smoking as Luke held the saber to his throat.

The Jedi's breath was burning in his ears, pounding ceaselessly, almost as much as his anger. His rage was strong, but now, looking at his fallen father, it was being replaced by hesitation.

Slowly, the Emperor's cackling penetrated Luke's foggy mind.

"Good!" Palpatine exclaimed, standing up from his throne and walking towards him. "Your hate has made you powerful. Now...fulfil your destiny, and take your father's place at my side!"

Luke looked at the Emperor, at the wild eyes and shrivelled skin and barely contained power. Then he looked back at his father, who lay beaten, defeated by his own son.

He turned to face the Emperor. "No! I'll never turn to the dark side," he replied to Palpatine's earlier urging. "You've failed, Your Highness. I am a Jedi. Like my father before me."

He took his lightsaber and threw it clattering down a walkway. He had no need of it.

Palpatine had not moved a muscle, but his eyes betrayed more than words ever could. "So be it... Jedi."

**To Be Continued…**

* * *

There, the story is finished. There will be a sequel, if I can get around to it. Suggestions and ideas are welcome; please e-mail them to: Please R/R! - Tomb Raider X


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